mjf314

_sunflower_ wrote in another comment that a time travel drama can avoid a ban if the characters can't change the past, or if the time travel isn't really time travel. I'm not sure if this applies to Emperor or Boss, because I haven't seen it.

Sorry about that. I tried my best to mention most of the popular dramas, but it's hard to cover everything without making the article too long.

I checked the books again, and TV Drama in China mentions one of his dramas.

"In 1996, another costume drama followed, set in the same Qing Court of Qianlong. Hunchback Liu, the Prime Minister (Zaixiang Liu Luoguo), seized the popular imagination with tales of the valiant prime minister of the day cleverly fighting against court corruption."

Staging Corruption: Chinese Television and Politics mentions a few of them as well.

"The stunningly popular Hunchback Liu gave rise to a number of historical comedies of similar style, including four series of Records of Emperor Kang’xi’s Plainclothes Tours (Kang’xi weifu sifang ji) and Eloquent Ji Xiaolan (Tiechi tongya Ji Xiaolan) in the late 1990s. Because of their playful style and lack of pretension to historical accuracy, Hunchback Liu and others are often treated as “historical-lite” (xishuo), as opposed to the more serious historical dramas (zhengju) set in the Qing Dynasty."

A Chinese Ghost Story was made in Hong Kong, which has less censorship than mainland China.

Even in China, the ghost ban doesn't seem to be enforced very strictly. Coco (a Pixar movie about ghosts) was not banned in China, because when the censors watched the movie, they were moved to tears and they liked the movie's message.

Thanks. I found subtitles for The Return of the Condor Heroes.

I'm considering it, but I haven't decided yet. If I do, then Japan will probably be next.

I wish I could watch it, but unfortunately I can't find subtitles.

Did Singapore used to make a lot of costume dramas, and are there any others that you would recommend?

Thanks. I watched the 1st episode of The Vigilantes in Masks a few months ago, but I stopped watching because the subs weren't very good. But otherwise it seemed like a good drama.

Thailand is going to be difficult because of the lack of sources. I haven't been able to find any good books or articles about the history of Thai dramas.

Ming Dynasty in 1566 (with subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyED3III7lHNdhHi0UjE6FVrx-pudgYDV

LOCH 1983 (without subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLooD8l3FSd6lr4nY5yquV4xrbp1_Ju0xP

You can download the LOCH subtitles from Subscene, and then you can use an extension like "Subtitles for Youtube" to add the subs to the Youtube video. Alternatively, you can use VLC to watch the Youtube video with subtitles. LOCH is also available on a certain other website, but with worse quality.

I might consider writing an article about Japan or Korea in the future. Thailand is more difficult because of the lack of sources. I haven't been able to find any good books or articles about the history of Thai dramas.

If you browse this page, it looks like there might be a few from the 80s: https://kisskh.at/search?adv=titles&ty=68&co=2&ge=-10&so=date

For example, Cloud of Romance (1985) looks modern, judging by the poster, but the synopsis provides very little information, so I'm not sure.

I would've liked to cover more genres in the article. Unfortunately, it was hard to find good sources, especially for genres that became popular within the last decade.

If I'm not mistaken, I think Lurk (2009) was the first Republican Era spy drama that became very popular.

"I’m curious if you know why most shows seem to be 1 season" I don't know, but a lot of J-dramas and K-dramas only have 1 season, so maybe it's an Asian thing rather than a Chinese thing. However, there are some C-dramas with multiple seasons, for example Journey to the West, Princess Pearl, Qin Empire, Nirvana in Fire, Tientsin Mystic, The Advisors Alliance, and Like a Flowing River all had multiple seasons.

I don't know why some dramas have short episodes.

I'm glad to see that you included dramas from a variety of countries - Japan, Korea, China, Thailand. Are you going to include any HK, Taiwanese, or Filipino dramas in part 2?

I'm also glad to see 17.3 About a Sex get recommended. More people should watch it.

Maybe you should watch some banned Chinese films. Watching a banned film surely doesn't condone censorship.

I recommend starting with The Blue Kite (1993), one of the best films about the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The director was banned from making films for 10 years, but the film won several awards at international film festivals.

It sounds like you know a lot about wuxia. Do you have a favorite older wuxia drama that you would recommend?

What were your favorite C-dramas that you watched as a kid? I know that Journey to the West was popular with kids, but I'm curious which other dramas were popular.

Thanks for the praise. I think all 4 of those countries (China, Korea, Japan, Thailand) have made some great dramas, so I might consider writing articles about other countries in the future.

I wish more HK dramas got exported to America. I'm interested in watching some of the popular wuxia dramas of the 90s (Condor Heroes, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, The Duke of Mount Deer), but they never got dubbed or subbed into English (and unfortunately I don't know any other languages).

At least some of the 80s wuxia dramas have been subbed. LOCH 1983 is my favorite HK drama so far.

Some of them have been uploaded to official channels, so they're unlikely to get removed.

For example, Journey to the West (1986), Princess Pearl (1998), Yongzheng Dynasty (1999), Palace of Desire (2000), and Scarlet Heart (2011) are on official Youtube channels with English subtitles.

I like samurai and martial arts movies too. Do you have any favorites to recommend? My favorite samurai movie is Harakiri (1962), and my favorite martial arts movie is The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984).